Ok, I get he won back win the Dems were stomping on Republicans because of GWB, but sheesh, how is he STILL in office?

The guy is a complete MORON.

The idea he thinks he could run for President is so laughable.

Good point, but I think he's actually quite a smart guy despite being a bit of a doofus.I think he got a perfect score on the math part of the SAT back in high school.

Regardless, name recognition is a huge part of political success.I know plenty of obscure, decent, smart people that would be great in office.Sadly, those who get the money and media coverage get elected.

Embattled Democratic senator from Minnesota says while some of the sexual misconduct allegations against him are not true, he cannot be an effective voice for his constituents while under ethics investigation.

Calling it “the worst day of his political life,” Minnesota Democratic Sen. Al Franken said Thursday he will resign from the U.S. Senate following a wave of sexual misconduct allegations against him that ranged from groping to forcibly trying to kiss women.

Franken, who said that some of the complaints against him were “simply not true” and that he remembers others “differently,” also took a parting shot at President Trump.

“There is some irony in the fact that I am leaving office while a man who has bragged on tape about his history of sexual assault sits in the Oval Office,” he said during his 11-minute speech from the Senate floor.

About 18 Democratic senators, staff and family members were on hand for the announcement. Some sat stone-faced while others cried. His staff were lined up in the back of the chamber.

Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan was the only Republican senator present.

New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar were also in attendance. They were among the lengthy list of Democrats pressuring Franken to resign.

Tucker's Thoughts: Let's stop the nauseating hypocrisy and self righteousness in politics. What goes around definitely comes around. Remember that. #TuckerVideoTucker: Good riddance to Al Franken, but there's a downside

“As he and I discussed yesterday, this is the right decision,” Klobuchar said in a statement.

It will be up to Minnesota Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton to appoint a successor.

Multiple sources reported that the likely candidate could be Democratic Lt. Gov. Tina Smith, a close ally of Franken. The successor would serve until a special election is held in 2018 to determine who would fill the final two years of Franken’s term.

On Wednesday, Franken faced a tidal wave of resignation calls by members of his own party.

By mid-afternoon, 23 of them wanted him gone. By Thursday, the number had grown to 36.

“Enough is enough,” Gillibrand said Wednesday.

Her sentiment was echoed by Sens. Kamala Harris of California, Marie Hirono of Hawaii, Claire McCaskill of Missouri, Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Maria Cantwell of Washington, Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Maggie Hassan of New Hampshire, Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota.

“Sexual harassment and misconduct should not be allowed by anyone and should not occur anywhere. I believe the best thing for Senator Franken to do is step down,” Harris, D-Calif., said.

Hassan, D-N.H., tweeted, “It is clear that Al Franken has engaged in a pattern of egregious and unacceptable behavior toward women. He should resign."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican, weighed in.

At least 10 Democratic senators are now calling on the lawmaker to resign.“It now appears Senator Franken has lost the support of his colleagues, and most importantly, his constituents,” McConnell said.

“I do not believe he can effectively serve the people of Minnesota in the U.S. Senate any longer,” he added.

The Minneapolis Star Tribune, the largest newspaper in Franken’s home state, called for his immediate resignation late Wednesday. They questioned his ability to “function effectively” after “losing the confidence of so many colleagues.

“If this is to be an actual turning point in our culture, there must be real and lasting consequences to behaviors that never should have been accepted,” the editorial board wrote. “That these incidents came so late in Franken’s life should make him all the more accountable. Instead, he has mostly offered hollow apologies that failed to acknowledge what happened.”

Franken’s political career has been in peril since California radio broadcaster Leeann Tweeden posted a blog detailing how he kissed and groped her without her consent in 2006. She also tweeted a picture showing a grinning Franken standing over her as she sleeps, his hands over her breasts.

Franken has since apologized, but other allegations from seven additional women have surfaced since Tweeden’s claims.

The latest was a woman who claimed she was groped at a Media Matters party during the first Obama inauguration.

Before that, another woman accused Franken of forcibly trying to kiss her – this time after a taping of his radio show in 2006.

The woman, who spoke to Politico, claims Franken pursued her after her boss had left and she was collecting her things. The woman was in her 20s at the time.

The accuser, who was not identified, said Franken tried to kiss her but that she ducked.

Franken, a former "Saturday Night Live" performer who was a host on the now-defunct "Air America" radio network at the time, allegedly followed up by telling her it was his “right as an entertainer.”

“He was between me and the door and he was coming at me to kiss me,” she told Politico. “It was very quick and I think my brain had to work really hard to be like ‘Wait, what is happening?’ But I knew whatever was happening was not right and I ducked.”

Franken has strongly denied those allegations.

The calls for Franken to step down came after Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., retired following numerous allegations of sexual misconduct against him.

In Alabama, several women have accused Senate Republican candidate Roy Moore of sexual misconduct when they were in their teens, including one who said she was 14 when Moore molested her.

Moore denies the allegations.

President Trump – who had multiple allegations of sexual harassment against himself when running for president – has endorsed Moore.

Minnesota Lt. Gov. Tina Smith was appointed Wednesday to temporarily fill the Senate seat of Democratic Sen. Al Franken, who resigned amid allegations of sexual misconduct and pressure within his party to leave office.

“It will be my great honor to serve Minnesota as United States senator,” Smith said in accepting the appointment. “I am resolved to do everything I can to move Minnesota forward. … This is a difficult moment for us. But even now, I am filled with optimism for Minnesota.”

Smith, a Democrat, was appointed by Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton and will serve until a special election next year to complete Franken’s term, ending in 2020.

“I want to appoint the person whom I believe will best represent the people of Minnesota in the Senate,” Dayton said in making the announcement. “She has impeccable integrity and the highest personal and professional standards. She will be a senator of whom all Minnesotans will be proud.”

Dayton was under pressure from Washington Democrats to appoint a replacement who would run in 2018. And Smith said Tuesday that she indeed would run next year to keep the seat.

Alm Franken FBN APSen. Al Franken is leaving the Senate after numerous groping allegations. (AP)The 59-year-old Smith is a former General Mills executive who in the 1990s started her own marketing and political consulting firm. She eventually managed Walter Mondale's unsuccessful 2002 Senate run and the failed 1998 bid for governor of Mondale's son, Ted.

She also served in the early 2000s as a vice president of external affairs for Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. Smith later served as chief of staff to Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak before taking the same job with Dayton.

The special election for Franken's seat is expected to be an expensive race and a hotly contested race for a swing seat.

Republicans have already floated the possibility that former two-term Gov. Tim Pawlenty will run, giving them a widely known candidate who can raise plenty of money.

In a sign of Pawlenty's potential political strength, a top Democratic-allied interest group, Alliance for a Better Minnesota, last month paid for a poll attacking him at a time when he was said to be considering a run for governor.

Franken has not said exactly when he will leave the Senate; he announced last week he will resign after another allegation and calls from several female Democratic senators for him to step down.

Some Democrats questioned why he was forced out without a full investigation.

Zephyr Teachout, a Democrat who ran for governor of New York, said in an op-ed in the New York Times that she was left with a sense of that "something went wrong" when Franken announced he was stepping down.

"Zero tolerance (of sexual misconduct) should go hand in hand with two other things: due process and proportionality," Teachout wrote. "Both were missing in the hasty call for Senator Franken's resignation."

Numerous women accused Franken of groping and kissing them without their consent, before he eventually announced his resignation.

Franken, in his resignation speech, said he was "aware that there is some irony in the fact that I am leaving" while President Trump remains in office amid past sexual misconduct allegations being brought up against him.

At least four senators want Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) to rethink his resignation from Congress, including two senators who issued statements calling for Franken to step down two weeks ago, according to a report.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), one of the senators who did not call for Franken to resign from Congress until he went through an Ethics Committee investigation, said what the Democrats did to Franken was “atrocious” and “hypocritical.”

“What they did to Al was atrocious, the Democrats,” Manchin told Politico. “The most hypocritical thing I’ve ever seen done to a human being — and then have enough guts to sit on the floor, watch him give his speech and go over and hug him? That’s hypocrisy at the highest level I’ve ever seen in my life. Made me sick.”

Other senators privately said that they think calling for Franken’s resignation was premature.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), who publicly called for the Minnesota Democrat to step down, told Franken privately that he regrets his statement.

A third senator, who declined to be identified because of how politically sensitive the issue is among Democrats, also regretted calling for Franken’s ouster.

“I think we acted prematurely, before we had all the facts,” said a third senator who has also called for the resignation, and has since expressed regret directly to Franken. “In retrospect, I think we acted too fast.”

Two of the senators who called for Franken to step aside told Politico that they felt rushed to comment on the issue as other meetings and hearings distracted them from giving their full attention to the situation while more Democrats piled on Franken.

Franken, along with several other senators, called for an ethics investigation into his behavior as allegations of sexual misconduct surfaced.

The first allegation of sexual misconduct emerged after veteran radio journalist Leeann Tweeden accused Franken of groping her breasts while she slept and shoving his tongue down her throat without permission in 2006.

At least two other accusers who came forward accused the Minnesota Democrat of groping them while posing for photos when he was in office.

Democrats stopped calling for the ethics investigation and immediately called for his resignation after the eighth accuser came forward. Franken obliged and announced that he would resign “in the coming weeks.”

It appears that despite some Democrats calling for Franken to reconsider his resignation, the Minnesota senator has not changed his mind about resigning from his position.

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton announced that Lt. Gov. Tina Smith would be appointed to Franken’s seat, and Franken said he was working with Smith on the transition.

Good riddance to one of the dumbest persons in the Senate and the dumbest member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Now he can go back to being an unfunny comedian who takes pictures of himself groping young women. Franken to resign in early JanuaryBY MAX GREENWOOD - 12/20/17

Sen. Al Franken will step down on Jan. 2, a spokesman for the Minnesota Democrat said Wednesday.

Franken announced earlier this month that he would resign from the Senate in the face of sexual harassment allegations. But he did not announce a date for when he would officially leave the chamber.

Franken came under fire last month after multiple women accused him of inappropriately touching them. One woman said the comedian-turned-politician forcibly kissed her and groped her during a USO tour in 2006.

The allegations against Franken prompted numerous Democrats in the Senate to call for his resignation. The Senate Ethics Committee launched a probe into the allegations last month.

In a defiant speech on the Senate floor earlier this month, Franken said he was confident that the ethics investigation would clear his name. But he said that he could not adequately represent his constituents while going through the Ethics Committee process, and announced that he would resign "in the coming weeks."

“I may be resigning my seat, but I am not giving up my voice. I will continue to stand up for the things I believe in as a citizen and as an activist,” he said. “The Minnesotans deserve a senator who can focus with all her energy on addressing the challenges they face every day.”

A number of prominent men in politics, business, media and beyond have faced allegations of sexual misconduct in recent months. In the days surrounding Franken's resignation announcement, two other lawmakers, Reps. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), said they would step down from Congress in the face of allegations.

Franken said earlier Wednesday that he would deliver a series of speeches on the Senate floor before he leaves the chamber.

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, has tapped the state’s Democratic lieutenant governor, Tina Smith, to temporarily fill Franken’s Senate seat once he leaves the chamber. A special election for the seat is set for November 2018, and Smith said she intends to run to serve out the remainder of Franken’s term in office, which goes through 2020.

Good riddance to one of the dumbest persons in the Senate and the dumbest member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Now he can go back to being an unfunny comedian who takes pictures of himself groping young women. Franken to resign in early JanuaryBY MAX GREENWOOD - 12/20/17

Sen. Al Franken will step down on Jan. 2, a spokesman for the Minnesota Democrat said Wednesday.

Franken announced earlier this month that he would resign from the Senate in the face of sexual harassment allegations. But he did not announce a date for when he would officially leave the chamber.

Franken came under fire last month after multiple women accused him of inappropriately touching them. One woman said the comedian-turned-politician forcibly kissed her and groped her during a USO tour in 2006.

The allegations against Franken prompted numerous Democrats in the Senate to call for his resignation. The Senate Ethics Committee launched a probe into the allegations last month.

In a defiant speech on the Senate floor earlier this month, Franken said he was confident that the ethics investigation would clear his name. But he said that he could not adequately represent his constituents while going through the Ethics Committee process, and announced that he would resign "in the coming weeks."

“I may be resigning my seat, but I am not giving up my voice. I will continue to stand up for the things I believe in as a citizen and as an activist,” he said. “The Minnesotans deserve a senator who can focus with all her energy on addressing the challenges they face every day.”

A number of prominent men in politics, business, media and beyond have faced allegations of sexual misconduct in recent months. In the days surrounding Franken's resignation announcement, two other lawmakers, Reps. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) and Trent Franks (R-Ariz.), said they would step down from Congress in the face of allegations.

Franken said earlier Wednesday that he would deliver a series of speeches on the Senate floor before he leaves the chamber.

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat, has tapped the state’s Democratic lieutenant governor, Tina Smith, to temporarily fill Franken’s Senate seat once he leaves the chamber. A special election for the seat is set for November 2018, and Smith said she intends to run to serve out the remainder of Franken’s term in office, which goes through 2020.